Association of viral load with age, gender, disease severity, and death in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants

Abstract

In this study, the relationship between viral load, demographic characteristics, and disease information in 1007 (48.5%) patients with Delta variant (B.1.617.2), and 1070 (51.5%) patients with Alpha variant (B1.1.7) were investigated. We found that there was a significant difference in viral load between patients who died from the Alpha variant and those who were discharged (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, no significant difference was observed in patients with the Delta variant. The viral load in patients who died from the Alpha variant was significantly higher than those who were discharged (p < 0.05). The viral load was found to be higher in females in patients with the Delta variant, whereas it was very close in males and females in patients with the Alpha variant (p > 0.05). No significant difference was detected between the cycle threshold values (Ct) and disease severity. In terms of the mean Ct values, statistical differences were observed in patients with Delta and Alpha variants. The Alpha variant was found to have a higher viral load than the Delta variant. Furthermore, the Delta variant was found to be higher in the 40-year-old and under-age group than the Alpha variant, whereas the Alpha variant was higher in the groups over 40 years old. Although the rate of moderate and severe patients in the Alpha variant was found to be higher, the rate of mild survivors was found to be higher in the Delta variant. In conclusion, the increase in vaccination before the appearance of the Delta variant in our region may have influenced the viral load and clinical status of the patients.

Comparison of biomarkers of COVID-19 patients with the alpha variant (B.1.1.7), the delta variant (B.1.617), and no mutation detected

“…Our study shows that the Delta variant spread more in the younger age groups than the Alpha variant similar to other studies [1,37,38]. According to the determination of the Delta variant which was mostly detected in younger patients in our study was the dominant mu-…”

SARS-CoV-2 variant with the spike protein mutation F306L in the southern border provinces of Thailand

“…For example, a study conducted in the USA reported a significantly higher viral load in males 26 , and the same trend was observed in Italy, although it was found that males had a faster viral load decay than females, and the viral load decayed more slowly in older patients 27 . Studies from Australia 28 and Turkey 29 , on the other hand, reported no significant difference in viral loads among patients of different sexes and age groups. This suggests that the trends may vary from setting to setting, and the association between viral load dynamics and age or sex remains highly debated.…”

Viral shedding patterns of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections by periods of variant predominance and vaccination status in Gyeonggi Province, Korea

“…However, the viral trajectory such as mean peak Ct value, mean proliferative stage duration, clearance stage duration and days from peak between them was different, and the Ct peak in SARS-CoV-2 infection was earlier than SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV [6]. Also, various factors such as individual characters; age, sex, underlying disease, and obesity [3,[7][8][9], virus types of SARS-CoV-2 [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], treatment, and vaccination history of infectors affected the curve from beginning to end in periods of SARS-CoV-2 infection [19][20][21][22]. So, it is not clear exactly when the viral shedding peak is and how much the difference in viral load at the peak in SARS-CoV-2 virus infection.…”

“…However, the viral trajectories differ among factors such as mean peak Ct value, mean proliferative stage duration, clearance stage duration, and days from peak, and the Ct value peaks earlier in SARS-CoV-2 infections than for the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome or MERS-CoV [ 6 ]. Furthermore, factors such as individual characteristics (age, sex, underlying disease, and obesity) [ 3 , 7 - 9 ], variant types of SARS-CoV-2 [ 10 - 18 ], treatment, and vaccination history have affected the curve from beginning to end in periods of SARS-CoV-2 infection [ 19 - 22 ]. Thus, it is not clear exactly when viral shedding peaks and how much difference there may be in the viral load at the peak of a SARS-CoV-2 infection.…”